Suspended sentence for Douglas man after 'sustained assault'

47-year-old involved in New Year's Eve disorder

A Douglas man has been spared prison after getting into a fight outside a pub on New Year's Eve.

Martin Huxley, of Queens Terrace, had been out drinking with a friend before the altercation at The Rosemount.

The 47-year-old was sentenced at Douglas Courthouse after admitting affray; the incident saw him, and another man, end up in the road.

The court heard that at around 10.15pm on 31 December a man approached Huxley and punched him 'unprovoked'.

He retaliated by throwing several punches back in the incident described as a 'sustained assault'.

During sentencing Huxley's advocate said he'd 'drank too much' as he was grieving his father who had died a few days earlier 'very suddenly'.

He described the incident as 'a blip' as 'he'd been extremely stressed' adding his client 'sincerely regrets his actions'.

Imposing a 14-week custodial sentence, which has been suspended for 12 months, Magistrates also ordered Huxley to pay prosecution costs and banned him from licenced premises for six months warning him 'this could've become far more serious'.